Cultivate Success: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Parsley Indoors

Herbs

Apr 26

Written By Kelly Keating

Growing parsley indoors — **Growing Parsley Indoors**

Are you a fan of the delicate yet refreshing flavor of fresh parsley in your cooking?

Why not grow it yourself indoors?

Growing parsley indoors has numerous benefits, including easy access to fresh herbs right in your home.

Avoid the hassle and expense of buying herbs from the grocery store by cultivating your own plants.

While growing parsley indoors might seem challenging, it can be done with the proper guidance.

In this comprehensive guide, we will provide you with all the necessary steps to cultivate healthy and flavorsome parsley from seed to harvest, ensuring your success as an indoor gardener.

You will learn about the common pitfalls of growing parsley indoors, providing expert tips and advice to help you obtain the best possible results.

Want to know more? Keep reading and start enjoying homegrown parsley year-round.

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Step-by-Step Guide on Growing Parsley Indoors

Although parsley is naturally a biennial herb, it can be cultivated as an annual in almost any zone. This guide reveals how to grow parsley from seed.

With a few tips and tricks, even novice growers can achieve flourishing results. Read on to learn how to get your indoor parsley garden started!

Get Ready to Grow Parsley Indoors: Essential Materials

To start your indoor parsley garden off right, you'll need to gather the right materials.

Without them, you may not reach the desired outcome. Here's what you'll need for success.

Parsley Seeds - any type you like- Italian parsley, curly leaf parsley, flat leaf parsley

Seed Starting Mix

Peat Pots or seed-starting pellet

Humidity Dome and seed tray

Grow Light

Heat Mat (optional)

Here are some of my materials that I used to start parsely indoors from seed.

How to Plant Parsley

Are you ready to start growing your own parsley indoors? Fantastic!

Timing is everything when it comes to growing parsley from seed indoors. It's best to start the process about 6-10 weeks before the last frost date in your region. This will give your parsley plant plenty of time to grow before it's ready to be planted outdoors.

Now that you know when to start, it's time to get your hands dirty! Follow these simple steps to ensure success with your indoor parsley planting project.

Parsley seed is recommended to be soaked overnight before you sow parsley seeds.

However, I don't think this is entirely necessary if you don't have the time or want to do this, I conducted a whole experiment with parsley seeds to see if soaking seeds before planting actually improves or accelerates seed germination.

Once you are ready to begin, fill your peat pot or container with potting mix when you are ready to sow your parsley seeds.

I recommend using this seed-starting mix as it contains all the necessary nutrients and is well-draining for a good seed start.

To make transplanting easier, I suggest using a peat pot. Parsley can be difficult to transplant, so reducing stress during the process will benefit your plants.

Get your garden growing by planting seeds ¼ inch deep and lightly covering them with soil.

For even better results, plant multiple seeds in each peat pot to ensure germination.

And don't worry about too many sprouts, you can thin them out later - it's better to have too many than too few!

Next, make sure to moisten the soil.

growing parsley from seed — Moistening the soil with my plant mister.

After doing that, I put my parsley seeds on a seed tray and covered it with a humidity dome.

Germination needs moisture and warmth to occur. Parsley likes a darker environment to germinate so I kept them on the floor in my dining room next to the radiator.

To keep the parsley warm enough, you can either use a heat mat or keep it next to a heater. I used the latter method but if I were to grow more parsley, I would consider using a heat mat. During the time I started growing my parsley in March, the temperature overnight was still quite cold.

Sprouting will happen faster and in greater numbers if the conditions are warm, but make sure not to make it too hot, as temperatures of 90°F and higher can actually hinder germination.

Every day, I made sure to check on the plants and used a plant mister to water them when the soil seemed to be starting to dry.

Moist soil is essential for germination, no matter what. Ensure that you maintain consistent moisture levels when watering your seeds, as overwatering them can be detrimental.

Parsley is a slow germinator, so it typically takes 2-3 weeks for it to sprout.

When my parsley started to sprout on day 11, I took it out of the humidity dome and put it under grow lights. Here are the best grow lights for herbs.

Place the lights about 3 inches away from the top of your parsley plants and keep them on for at least 12 hours per day.

Don't forget to spray water on the parsley regularly throughout the day. The lights used can make the soil dry and parsley prefers a humid atmosphere.

parsley indoors under grow light — I placed my parsley under grow lights once it germinated.

I think the hardest part of growing parsley is not getting it to germinate but keeping it alive once it has started to sprout.

I lost some young plants due to cold temperatures overnight.

To avoid a recurrence of this issue, my suggestion is to keep the plants close to a heater, cover them only at night, and return them under the lights in the morning.

Alternatively, you could utilize the heat mat option which would be more beneficial.

I also experienced dampening off. Most of my seeds sprouted and as a result, they were all pretty close together, and due to lack of space and airflow some of the seedlings succumbed to damping off.

After the incident, I ensured that I thinned out my remaining parsley seedlings promptly so that only one plant was left in each container.

Following this, I provided sufficient light to the plants, which helped my parsley to flourish and develop its true leaves.

thinning parsley seedlings — This is an example of seedlings that need to be thinned. They are too tall and leggy.

growing parsley from seed indoors — Here is the strongest seeding after I thinned out the other leggy seedlings.

When you start to see your parsley leaves growing, it means they are ready for transplanting outdoors!

After the last frost date in your region has passed, find a sunny spot with enough room to spread out.

Make sure that the soil is well-draining and amend if necessary with organic matter.

To reduce stress, put the entire peat pot into a larger container or plant it directly into the soil.

parsley grown indoors — A beautiful parsley leaf! It will sprout more leaves soon. Once the threat of frost has past I can transplant it outdoors.

With a little bit of love, you should be harvesting parsley in just a few weeks!

Tips for Growing Parsley Indoors

After learning from my own mistakes and successfully harvesting a substantial amount of parsley from my personal garden, I have gathered a few tips to share when starting parsley indoors.

Plant multiple seeds in each pot to ensure germination.
Keep the soil moist at all times but not overly wet as this can hinder germination.
Be mindful of cold temperatures at night and consider using a heating mat.
When the seedlings start to grow, thin them out so that only one plant is left in each pot to ensure that each plant has enough space and nutrients to grow properly. You want the strongest seedlings to remain.
Make sure that the plants receive at least 12 hours of light per day and mist them regularly.
Transplant the parsley outdoors, after the last frost date in your region has passed, preferably in a sunny area with well-draining soil.
Harvest parsley regularly and don’t wait too long as this can result in the plants becoming woody.
Parsley is a slow germinator, so be patient and be prepared to wait up to 3 weeks for sprouting.